MCAL Hoops- Jan. 10 Power Rankings (updated)

In honor of Marin IJ legend Brian Bainum, the power rankings are back. The rankings will come out every Sunday night at 7 p.m.

Here is the first installment.

1. Redwood- The win over Branson didn’t prove much to me. Even though Branson scored 32 points, I felt that the Giants played poorly on defense. The Marin Catholic game was another story. Redwood dominated from the get go and played a very complete game of basketball against a team that started out with some solid victories.

2. Terra Linda- No defense. No problem. The Trojans are allowing over 50 points a game (53.3 in MCAL to be exact) but have also scored 70+ points twice in their first three MCAL games. Kenny Woodard obviously doesn’t know about the IJ Player of the Week jinx. After receiving the honor Tuesday, he scored 47 points over the two games this week. Terra Linda doesn’t necessarily have to beat Redwood in Larkspur on Tuesday, but it should be a close game.

3. Branson- They haven’t been overly impressive, but they have picked up two wins in their first three games. Their only loss was at Redwood and they had the game close deep into the third quarter. If they would have had Tyler Gaffaney, there might have been a different outcome. They should be a different team when he returns.

(emphasizing the drop off)

4. Marin Catholic- MC played really poorly at home against Redwood, but it’s hard to ignore their first two wins against MC and San Marin. Marin Catholic should have one date in particular circled on the schedule. Jan. 26, they have to go Justin-Siena. If they win, they will improve to 2-2 in NCS division IV and be eligible for the NCS. If they lose, their NCS chances take a huge hit.A win against Justin-Siena isn’t enough. In basketball the NCS requires more wins than losses to become eligible in either your league, division or overall. I was confused with football rules which say you must have as many wins as losses. It will still be tough for MC to make NCS.They would have to finish at least 9-5 in the league (in this situation they would be NCS elligible even if they lost their first MCAL playoff game) or win the MCAL championships. Neither of those situations seem very likely.

5. San Marin- A bit of a slow start, but the Mustangs are pretty beat up right now. Also, both of their losses have been by five points or less. Stuart Wesonga is threat to go off at any time and that makes San Marin a dangerous team.

6. Novato- The Hornets didn’t look good in their first game against Redwood, but they have recovered. If they get Dylan White back, they will be a much better team. But even with White, I still think they’re are a notch below the Top 3.

7. Drake- The Pirates were playing well heading into the MCAL season, but they’ve stumbled slightly coming out of the gates. They are 1-2, but they two losses are respectable (TL and at MC). I expect they will be in a lot of close games, regardless of the opponent. They need to pull a handful of those games out to give themselves a good chance at the playoffs.

8. Tam- Nice win at San Rafael to start the season, very bad loss at home to Novato on Tuesday and a respectable loss four-point to Branson on Friday. Tam doesn’t have a deep bench but the starters could cause a lot of MCAL teams trouble.

9. San Rafael- The bad news? Very rough start for the Bulldogs. The good news? There are 11 games left. I expected San Rafael to surprise some teams this year, but 3 games in they are 0-3 and have lost each game by double digits. I still have hope.

10. Justin-Siena- I will say this as nicely as I can: The Braves are not in my jurisdiction and I know nothing about them except that they are 0-3 and they didn’t have a lot of talent last year.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Think a team is overrated? Underrated? Make sure to share your thoughts with us.

6 Responses to MCAL Hoops- Jan. 10 Power Rankings (updated)

Unless something has been changed by NCS, a winning record is “more wins than losses.” The MC vs. JS game isn’t going to change anything unless calpreps.com is incorrect about the divisions that some of those preseason teams fall in.

Thank you. I made the correction. Next time, Rick Winter calls in, I’ll ask him if he thinks that his NCS division record is different then what is recorded on calpreps.com. It’s possible that some of the games against out-of-state teams will be considered in the division.

Let’s not forget about the girls side, where it looks like on any given night its anyone’s ball game. Tam and Justin already beat Branson, but Branson is playing without a top scorer (Cotio) who is out hurt. Drake and MC battled it out in OT with MC. , coming out the winner in a great game! Redwood, Novato, and San Marin are all in the the mix too.

Poor defense against Branson? D’Mar had 9 blocked shots against Branson and Max Jackson was a defensive beast? What game did you watch? And Branson made a total of “9” count’em “NINE” field goals…….c’mon don’t write about something if you don’t have a clue……….

The game I watched was Redwood neck and neck in the third quarter with a Branson team that could barely get the ball up the floor. Then, a shot here, a bad play by Branson there, and the game was broken open.